Innovations-Magazine-February-2024 - 14

A CLOSER LOOK AT SUBSTANCE MISUSE PREVENTION
PROFESSIONAL AFFAIRS UPDATE
SAMHSA Publishes New Resources to Help
Communities Prevent Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA), in collaboration with RTI International, has published
two guides designed to help community practitioners prevent
overdose-related deaths in their communities. The Engaging
Community Coalitions to Decrease Opioid Overdose Deaths Practice
Guide 2023 and Opioid-Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care
Approach (ORCCA) Practice Guide 2023 resources include action
plans that explain evidence-based strategies for reducing opioid
overdoses. The resources are based on the tools and the knowledge
acquired from the ongoing National Institutes of Health's
(NIH's) HEALing Communities Study, which is a multistate
implementation research study that tests evidence-based practices
in health care and other community settings. The guides are
available on SAMHSA's website.
Individuals Initiating Buprenorphine Treatment via
Telehealth May Have Greater Retention Rates
Researchers found that individuals who began buprenorphine
treatment for opioid use disorder via telehealth had a higher
probability of staying in treatment longer than those who began
treatment in a non-telehealth setting. Published in JAMA Network
Open, the study utilized Medicaid data from November 1, 2019,
to December 31, 2020, for 91,914 individuals from Kentucky and
Ohio between the ages of 18 and 64. According to the study, a high
proportion of individuals who began buprenorphine treatment in
the second and third quarters of 2020 through telehealth services
continued buprenorphine treatment for at least 90 days after starting
(45% of individuals in Kentucky and 28.5% of individuals in Ohio).
Additionally, the frequency of opioid-related nonfatal overdoses in
the 90 days after initiating buprenorphine treatment was reported
as 1.8% in Kentucky and 3.6% in Ohio, regardless of treatment
modality. Additional information is available on the NIH website.
LAPPA Publishes Summary Report
of US Opioid Antagonist Access Laws
The Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) has
published a comprehensive report of opioid antagonist access laws as
of September 2023 in the United States, the District of Columbia,
and all US territories. The Opioid Antagonist Access: Summary of State
Laws report identifies the people permitted to dispense or distribute
in each state; individuals who have immunity to prescribe, dispense,
and administer opioid antagonists; co-prescription requirements; and
other provisions. LAPPA notes that almost all opioid antagonist access
laws in place as of September 2023 were first in effect before Food
and Drug Administration granted nonprescription status to certain
naloxone formulations in March 2023. Details of the opioid antagonist
access laws report can be found on the LAPPA website.
Nearly 600,000 Pounds of Unneeded Medications
Properly Disposed of During DEA's Drug
Take Back Day
Nearly 600,000 pounds of unneeded and expired medication
were collected during Drug Enforcement Administration's
(DEA's) 25th
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day that
took place on October 28, 2023. Since 2010, about 17.9 million
pounds of unneeded medications have been properly and
safely disposed of on DEA's Drug Take Back Days nationwide.
Learn more about Drug Take Back Day on DEA's website.
Permanent drug disposal boxes can be found at police
departments, pharmacies, fire stations, hospitals, and municipal
buildings. Consumers can find the nearest collection site using
NABP's Drug Disposal Locator Tool, available on the Association's
consumer website, safe.pharmacy.
12 | FEBRUARY 2024

https://www.samhsa.gov/resource-search/ebp?utm_source=SAMHSA&utm_campaign=56134dbcf0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_09_11_01_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-56134dbcf0-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2810828?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=101823 https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/telehealth-supports-retention-treatment-opioid-use-disorder https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2023/11/08/deas-national-prescription-drug-take-day-removes-almost-600000-pounds https://safe.pharmacy/ https://legislativeanalysis.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Opioid-Antagonist-Access-Summary-of-State-Laws.pdf

Innovations-Magazine-February-2024

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